The Brothers Karamazov Book 4, Chapter 7 Summary

And in the Fresh Air

  • Snegiryov then starts rambling on to Alyosha about the back-story behind his dispute with Dmitri. He had been some kind of servant to Dmitri but had cheated him on Grushenka's and Fyodor's orders. On discovering this, Dmitri had turned him out of the tavern by his beard, mockingly called the "whiskbroom," in front of his own son and the other children. His son continues to be mocked by the children and is constantly getting into fights with them even though he's frail.
  • Alyosha then offers him the 200 roubles. Snegiryov seems genuinely grateful and goes on about all the wonderful things he can do for his family.
  • But all of a sudden, Snegiryov's mood seems to change. He flings the roubles on the ground and announces that his honor can't be bought. But as he runs away, he also asks Alyosha what his son would say if he knew that he had accepted money from a Karamazov.